The one thing that will increase your hourly rate

money

By far the most talked about benefit of becoming a locum doctor, is the amount that you get paid. It is well known that working locum can see doctors take away a much higher rate of pay than their permanent placed counterparts, however there are a few ways in which you can bump up your … [Read more…]

Majority of members balloted in favour of strike action The GMB union have confirmed that 78% of their 22,000 members have voted in favour of strike action over pay. The ambulance staff, from across England and Northern Ireland, will join nurses, midwives and porters among other NHS staff in the four hour walk out on … [Read more…]

A wide variety of doctors decide to take up locum work, and for many different reasons too. However, one recent trend spotted by recruitment professionals and hospital consultants is that increasing numbers of graduates are now deciding to work locum instead of having a permanent full time. There are many reasons for this, as locum … [Read more…]

NHS leaders strive for a commitment before the 2015 elections A collection of 21 health and social care leaders have called on political parties to make manifesto commitments of at least an additional £4 billion to fund NHS changes over the next parliament. The group of organisations supporting the ‘2015 Challenge Manifesto’ include the NHS … [Read more…]

NHS bosses warned to “get a grip” Official figures have shown that the NHS in England has worked up a deficit of nearly £500 million within the first few months of the new financial year. The blame for increasing costs was pinned on the rising demand for services, with regulators explaining that hospitals in particular … [Read more…]

Can an open complaints culture be achieved within the NHS? Campaigners are still striving for a more open whistleblowing culture for NHS staff, as employees wishing to raise complaints are continually coming up against problems, such as bullying. Despite public inquiries recommending the promotion of whistleblowing, campaigning group Patients’ First believe that a ‘culture of fear’ … [Read more…]

Unfair system could see some services underfunded A report by the National Audit Office has revealed that some local healthcare services across England have been underfunded, as the government use an unfair system to allocate £79 billion to resources. The NAO claims that many funding decisions are being made on individual civil servants’ judgments rather … [Read more…]

Long term effects of monetary bonus dwindling Researchers have found that the Advancing Quality scheme, which uses financial incentives to reduce hospital death rates, has seen it’s initial success begin to falter. Under the scheme, 24 hospitals based in the North West of England were offered financial rewards for reducing the number of patients dying … [Read more…]

Dementia patients left to pay for the majority of their care themselves The Alzheimer’s Society have discovered that dementia patients in the UK pay on average £21,322 per year towards their own care, with the NHS only stumping up a third of the total costs. Figures compiled by the London School of Economics and Kings College … [Read more…]

These locum doctors explain why they decided to take on locum placements… Glynda Crabtree, MD – emergency medicine doctor “For two years, I accepted assignments periodically to supplement the cost of building a new house. My regular, nine-to-five position is low stress and involves seeing low-acuity patients, but I wanted to liven things up. As a … [Read more…]